Sing Of Friendship
by Macaronis Tours
Summary: Just Zig Zag and Squid being friends. Sounds exciting, eh? PG for language.


"Yeah, and maybe my mom'll stop drinkin' and my dad'll come home."  
  
Zig Zag rolled over in bed as those words rang through his head yet again. Squid had said those exact words today, and they had left Zig Zag puzzled. Although D Tent was like family, they didn't really bother with each other's personal lives. It just made things easier. But this.This was different. Squid was his best friends, and Zig Zag wanted to know. The two boys had come into camp around the same time, and had immediately bonded, seeing as no one else had yet warmed up to them. And even when they did become real D Tent members, they still stayed together. They had helped each other through hard times, and to Zig Zag, this was no different. So, rolling over in bed, he quietly slunk over the Squid's bed, trying not to wake the other guys. If Armpit happened to wake up, he'd be dead within.ten seconds or so.  
  
He gently shook Squid's shoulder, and when he didn't get a reaction, he shook more violently. Squid groaned, and pulled his pillow over his head. However, he quickly pulled his head back out; the material on the cot was scratchy and smelled like sour milk and rotten eggs. Yummy. Squid cracked an eye, glancing up at Zig Zag. Well, he guessed it was Zig Zag anyway, judging by the crazy hair that could be seen in the dim moonlight.  
  
"What the fuck do you want, Zig? We have to dig holes tomorrow."  
  
"I know. But I have to ask you something. Move over."  
  
Squid did, and Zig Zag laid down on the bed, making sure there was a good few inches between his body and Squid's; he didn't want anyone thinking there was something going on if they happened to wake up.  
  
"What?" Squid questioned in a whisper. Zig Zag could almost perfectly picture Squid peering at him through his dark brown eyes, a look of intense but sleepy concentration on his tan face.  
  
"Well.You said something today." Silence was the only reply he got. "Something about your parents." There was silence again, but this time, there was tension added to it. It was a very stony silence. A frown appeared on Squid's face.  
  
"Yeah? So what? It ain't none of your god damn business, Zig."  
  
"You're like my brother, Squid. I wanna know."  
  
"If you were my brother, you'd know already," Squid whispered, laughter in his voice. Zig Zag couldn't help but smile but he then impatiently thwapped Squid with a nearby pillow.  
  
"Tell me."  
  
"You don't want to know."  
  
"Of course I fucking wanna know! What do you think, I just came over here for the fun of it?"  
  
Squid sighed. He was too tired to argue back with Zig, and besides, even if he was up to it, Zig Zag had an unlimited amount of energy, so he would probably end up winning the argument as it was.  
  
"Fine. I'll tell you. You'd better not tell anyone else, though. I'll kill you if you tell anyone else."  
  
Zig Zag nodded solemnly in the dark. Squid took a deep breath, propping his chin in cupped hands, and facing the canvas wall of the tent. It wasn't the most exciting thing to look at, but he doubted he could look at Zig Zag while he was talking.  
  
"Well.I can't remember anything until I was about five. My mom was an alcoholic, and so was my dad. My dad was worst most of the time, 'cuz he also did drugs. He got high a lot. The one clear thing I remember is.There was no food in the house, just beer and rum. I remember sitting on the kitchen floor, underneath the table. My parents were out in the living room on the couch doing hell knows what while some corny show was blaring on our crappy old TV set. Anyway, I stood up and hit the table with my head and knocked a beer can off the table, and it spilled all over the floor. When my mom came in and found me trying to clean it up with a paper towel, she hit me. Hard." Squid paused, and Zig Zag didn't say anything. He just lay tense on the bed, listening intently to Squid's story. "When I turned nine, I had to start stealing things from stores to survive, seeing as my neither of my parents had a job.Just small things. I was afraid they'd notice me if I took anything else, so all I took was sticks of bubble gum and crap like that. I started to become better at stealing though, swifter, until I was caught. When the police brought me back to my parent's trailer, they beat me.Both of them. It hurt so bad.so bad." Another pause. Squid took a deep breath. "So I got afraid of stealing from stores, and instead I would wander into town and steal from people's houses. I did the same thing that I had done with the stores, stealing small things like lunch meat and soda that nobody would really miss much. I was good at it. Really good. I missed a lot of school, too, but whenever I did go I always got in trouble. When I was fourteen, I joined a gang. Told them I was seventeen, and they believed me. When they found out I wasn't even fifteen, they 'kicked me out'. I never really had a place to live; I didn't go home much 'cuz I was afraid of what my parents would do to me once I got there, so I just slept outside or at a neighbor's or something. One night in April I did go back to the trailer, and when I stepped inside, my mom started screaming at me. She said I had used her money, that I had stole it. She screamed about how I owed her millions of dollars. She was drunk again, I could tell because she was yelling in my face and I could smell it. When I asked her where my dad was, she muttered something about how he had gone out for ice cream. I went back to my room, and lay awake all night, listening to my mom throwing up and whimpering. I came back out in the morning, and since my dad wasn't back, I asked her where she was again. She called me a stupid bitch and yelled that it was my fault. She kicked me out, throwing dishes at me the whole way out of the trailer park. I ran as fast as I could; I probably couldn't run faster now even if I tried. I had had the shit scared out of me, Zig. The next day I was trying to get some milk from a house downtown but they came back while I was there and found me inside. They called the police and I was arrested. I had my court hearing, and the judge said I was guilty. I couldn't argue. I didn't defend myself. I figured, there ain't any reason to. You're guilty..My mom didn't even show up," he added those last six words softly, almost as if they were an after thought. "Two weeks later I ended up at Camp Green Lake. But it ain't nothin' you need to worry about, Zig."  
  
Zig Zag didn't respond for a moment, then he softly sang, "Sing of friendship, shining golden treasure, friendship is the key to love and joy." Squid glanced over at Zig Zag, both eyebrows raised. The words to the song were slightly corny, but the way they were rolling out of Zig Zag's mouth in his bass voice made them seem a lot better.  
  
"What the hell is that?"  
  
Zig shrugged, absentmindedly running a hand through his crazy hair, a small smile appearing on his face. "My little sister learned it in Girl Scouts and she used to sing it all the time. I just remembered the words. I had to sing it."  
  
"Oh." They sat in silence, until Zig Zag spoke.  
  
"You're a good friend, Squid. And you're a good guy. You didn't deserve what you got. You can come live with me when we leave this hell hole."  
  
Squid grinned, running a hand over his short hair. "Good thinkin', Ziggy. How many more months left now?"  
  
"Only twenty-one, if I'm thinkin' correctly."  
  
"Doubt it. But we'll keep twenty-one for tonight." Zig Zag grinned, then stood up from the bed, and stared down at Squid. He felt closer to him now than he ever had before. "G'night, Squid."  
  
"Night, Ziggy. And.thanks."  
  
The only reply was Zig Zag's soft snoring coming from his cot.  
  
The next morning, Zig Zag's bass and Squid's tenor could be heard almost all the way across the camp.  
  
"Sing of friendship Shining golden treasure Friendship is the key To love and joy." 


End file.
